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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25008004">Reflection</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/thistreasurehunter/pseuds/thistreasurehunter'>thistreasurehunter</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>After the Rain [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Outer Banks (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Developing Relationship, Healthy Relationships, M/M, Masturbation, Past Relationship(s), Pining, first gay relationship</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 05:19:48</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>794</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25008004</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/thistreasurehunter/pseuds/thistreasurehunter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Pope reflects on his previous insecurities and then he takes a moment just thinking about JJ.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>JJ/Pope (Outer Banks)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>After the Rain [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1808869</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>62</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Reflection</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Set in the After the Rain timeline, about a week after Testing the Waters.</p>
<p>Disclaimer: I don’t own any of the Outer Banks characters or settings.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Pope had been walking around in a bubble of happiness for a month now.</p>
<p>Ever since he first began to realise, nearly a year ago, that the warm pull he felt towards JJ was more than just friendship, he’d had to deal with competing feelings of guilt, about thinking of his best friend in <em>that</em> way, and jealousy, as he saw JJ’s casual desire for women and the magnetic draw he also seemed to have over them.</p>
<p>However, since that first kiss – the first moment of realisation that his affections might be reciprocated – Pope has been trying to overcome the lingering feelings of insecurity and self-doubt that had developed during the months of unrequited longing.</p>
<p>And as the days pass, Pope feels himself slowly relaxing into this new rhythm, adjusting to the new role. The dynamic of their friendship had always been affectionate: Pope was used to the casual touches and playful teasing. On a personality level, he had always known they had clicked. Now, however, Pope was slowly getting used to idea that JJ could be attracted to him on a physical level.</p>
<p>On the first day of clear weather after the storm, The Pogues had taken the boat out fishing. During the heat of the afternoon, stripped down to swim shorts, Pope stood and tilted his head back to take a long drink from a bottle of water.</p>
<p>“Dude,” JJ groaned, eyes raking Pope’s body. “You’re so hot!”</p>
<p>Pope almost choked on the water. John B laughed and smacked a hand against his back. JJ grinned smugly, running a hand through his hair and raising an eyebrow at Pope. Pope coughed and looked down, shaking his head slightly, before raising the water again. Inside, however, he felt as though little fireworks were exploding in his chest and, as he took another swallow, he was hyper-aware that JJ’s eyes had not left him.</p>
<p>And now, four weeks on, Pope was happier than he could ever remember being. Now, rather than blushing and looking away, Pope embraces the difference. In public, Pope accepts JJ’s words of physical appreciation with a smile, a wink and usually a quick retort; something to make JJ’s face split in a grin and his eyes flash with pride. In private, JJ <em>shows</em> Pope how he feels: tracing the curve of Pope’s eyebrow, following the dip of his abs with a fingertip and, above all, just looking, looking, looking. And Pope lets him. Because Pope loves the feeling of the person he becomes under JJ’s gaze.</p>
<p>The shift in his relationship with JJ over the last four weeks had set off a warm, golden glow in his chest and Pope could feel this new, bright lightness in everything he did. Helping his dad in the shop, he smiled while arranging items on a shelf, remembering JJ sitting shirtless and relaxed on the bow of the HMS Pogue, squinting up at him over the top of his sunglasses through the strands of blond hair that had fallen in his eyes. While delivering groceries, he grinned, thinking about JJ at sunset in his backwards red snapback, grin cheeky and eyes glinting, dipping his shoulders and rolling his hips in a funny little dance that had the others laughing. While eating dinner with his parents, he thought about JJ on his surfboard, pushing his hair out of his eyes, lithe and graceful and strong. Washing the dishes, he thought about the nuzzle of JJ’s nose behind his ear when he wrapped his arms around Pope from behind for a quick hug while they waited for John B to dock the boat. Brushing his teeth before bed, he thought about JJ sprawled out and asleep on the pull-out at The Chateau, hair messy and face soft. One muscular arm stretched out above his head, his stomach muscles taut, the prominent V of his hips disappearing beneath the low-slung waistband of his shorts. Laying in bed in the dark, waiting for sleep, he remembered the feel of JJ’s toned muscles against his skin, running his hand under the hem of JJ’s tee to slide up the smooth expanse of his back and JJ’s soft exhale as Pope raked his fingers through his wild hair, fingernails blunt against his scalp. And finally, taking himself in hand, Pope imagined the warmth of JJ’s tongue gently tracing the shell of Pope’s ear, the hot, open-mouthed kisses down his neck, the urgent push and slide of their lips, and JJ’s soft whisper, “How about next time we’re <em>there,</em> we touch each other the way we like to touch ourselves?” Pope’s hips jerk and his stomach muscles clench and he curls forwards slightly, releasing the breath he hadn’t realised he’d been holding in a shuddering wave of pulsing, hot relief.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So, a little bit of a shift in tone with this one - I'd love to know what you think!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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